Cooling tower screen



June 11, 1968 R MCGUINNESS 3,387,424

COOLING TOWER SCREEN Filed Jan. 17, 1967 INVENTOR RAYMOND McGU IN NESS BY W- MYM United States Patent 3,387,424 COOLING TOWER SCREEN Raymond McGuinness, Morristown, NJ., assignor to Construction Specialties, Inc, Craniord, NJL, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 609,921 8 Claims. (Cl. 52-732) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This application relates to screens for cooling towers and similar structures, the screens including a plurality of spaced apart but overlapping blades to screen the structure and afford ventilating spaces between the blades and braces which can be inserted before, during or after assembling the screens on the structure to stabilize and prevent fiutter of the blades by the wind without substantially reducing the area of the ventilating spaces.

Much of the operating equipment mounted on the roofs of office buildings and the like, such as, for example, Water cooling towers, air conditioning equipment, elevator housings and ventilating openings in the buildings is unsightly and harms the overall appearance of the building. For that reason, it is common to screen such unsightly structures and openings with ornamental grilles or screens, such as, for example, screens of the type disclosed in the Hallock US. Patent No. 3,004,307 dated Oct. 17, 1961. Screens of this type include blades formed by extrusion of aluminum or aluminum alloys and the like in various ornamental shapes or cross-sectional configurations which can be mounted on the building or other structure in spaced and partially overlapping relations so as to render the structure behind them invisible while at the same time affording spaces through which air can flow for ventilating, cooling or other purposes.

Inasmuch as the blades of such screens are, in many instances, many feet long, difficulty is encountered in attaching them to the building structure with sufiicient rigidity to prevent them from fluttering or becoming detached under windy conditions. Preassernbly of the blades into complete screens or grilles increases the difficulty of transporting, handling and mounting the screens.

In accordance with the present invention, blades for the purposes described above are provided which can readily be assembled on a building and braced to prevent fluttering, deflection or sagging even under severe atmospheric conditions.

More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, blades are provided for screens of the type described which can be mounted on the building structure and then stiffened and supported against flexing and other movement by means of braces which can be pressed or snapped into place either during or after mounting of the blades on the building.

A typical form of blade with which the new braces can be used may take the form of an aluminum or other extrusion of generally T-shape form in cross-section, the head of the T being the screening blade and the upright of the T being a continuous web having at its inner edge a foot which can be attached to structural elements of the building. The head of the T-shaped blade and the foot or base of the blade are provided with means whereby the new braces can be inserted between the base and the edge portions of the screening blade in a generally triangulated relation to thereby greatly stiffen the web of the blade and support it against flexing by high winds or other forces. Inasmuch as the braces can readily be snapped into position, the blades may be mounted on a supporting structure and anchored in place by suitable 3,357,424 Patented June ll, i968 ice fastening means and the braces then inserted on a solidly supported structure to stiffen the blades. in this way, the braces do not interfere with attaching the blades to the supporting structure and the solid mounting of the blades enables the braces to be inserted more readily by the workmen who are assembling the screen.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be had to the drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a view in cross-section of a portion of a screen embodying the invention including three blades, a mounting member to which the blades are attached and braces for certain of the blades; and

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one of the braces for a blade of the screen.

As indicated above, the blades of the screen may be of any desired length commensurate with the size or opening to be screened and, as illustrated, in the present type of screen, two different types of blades 1% and 11 are utilized in the screen. The blade 16 includes a base portion 12 having two outwardly diverging flanges 13 and 14 and oppositely directed generally L-shaped flanges l5 and 16 located at opposite edges of the base portion. Also, centrally located in the base 12 of the blade it? are a pair of opposed generally L-shaped flanges l7 and 18 which are adapted to receive a nut 39 of square shape for cooperation with a bolt 2!} by means of which the blade 19 is attached to the supports 21 of the screen. if desired, the head of the bolt may be inserted between the flanges 17 and 13 and the nut screwed on the bolt against the support 21. It will be understood that a plurality of supports 21, such as beams, channel irons or the like, may 2 provided and a corresponding number of rows of bolts 26 may be used for securing the blade or blades it} to the supporting elements. The flanges 15 and l6 serve to support and prevent flexing of the blade 10 with respect to the supports 21.

The blades 11 are of different shape and form and include a mid-portion 22 having inwardly diverging flanges 23 and 24 at its edges, a centrally located, continuous web 25 extending toward the support 2 and an enlarged and thickened base or foot 26 adapted to engage the sup- .port or supports 21 for the screen. A generally rectangular recess 27 extending the full length of the blade ill is formed in the base or foot 26 for receiving a nut 28 or the head of a bolt by means of which the blade ill is secured to the support or supports 21. The blade ll can be formed as a single extrusion, and as illustrated in the drawing, is of generally T-shaped cross-section. The height of the web 25 is such that when the blades ill and 11 are assembled alternately on the support with their edge flanges overlapping, airflow spaces of substantial extent are provided between the flanges for ventilating, cooling or other purposes. The overlapping relationship of the edge flanges at least partially obsure the supports 21 and the cooling tower or other structure behind them. The webs 25 of the blades 11 obscures the remainder of the structure behind the screen even when viewed at an acute angle, providing 100% screening of the structure behind the screen.

With the structure thus far described, the centrally located web 25 does not have sutficient rigidity to prevent flexing or fluttering of the blades in high winds. In order to reduce such flexing or fluttering to a minimum, in accordance with the present invention, the base or foot 26 of the blade 11 is provided with a pair of diverging slots 29 and 30 extending the full length of the foot, each slot receiving the inner end 31 of a blade brace 32 which may also be made as a continuous extrusion and cut into appropriate widths, such as, for example, 1 /2 to 2 inches wide. The outer end of each brace 32 is provided with a flange 33 having an inclined Wedging or camming surface 34 and a transversely extending groove 35 behind it adjacent the outer end of the brace. The end portion 36 of the blade may be extended beyond the outermost edge of the inclined surface 34.

Cooperating with the blade braces 32 are inwardly converging narrow flanges 37 and 38 on the edge flanges 23 and 2d of the blade 11. These flanges extend the full length of the blade so that the blade braces 32 can be attached to the blades at any place or any number of places along the lengths of the blades. The braces are attached to the blades by inserting their inner ends in the grooves 29 and 30 and then pressing the inclined camming surface 34 against the flange 37 or 38 and forcing the brace inwardly until the flange 37, for example, snaps into the groove 35, thereby locking the brace securely in position and placing the brace under compression lengthwise thereof. The two braces 32 form a triangulated structure with the blade base 22 and edge flanges 23 and 24, thereby forming a very stiff and deflection-resistant structure. By locating pairs of the braces 32 in spaced-apart relation lengthwise of the blade 11, adequate stiffening is achieved without materially obstructing the ventilating areas between the blades and 11 when the screen is assembled.

- t will be understood that in assembling a screen composed of alternate blades 10 and 11 on a building, they can be bolted or otherwise secured in succession to the supports 21, and after the blades 11 are mounted on the supports 21, the braces 32 are snapped into position by the workmen. It will be understood, of course, that the braces can be preassembled with the blades 11 before the blades are mounted on the supporting structure, but this adds appreciable weight, particularly when long blades are being used and it is more convenient to snap the braces into position after the blades 11 have been secured to the supports.

It will be understood that the blades 10 and 11 can have different configurations, can be made in different sizes depending upon their field of use, and the braces 32 likewise can be made of different lengths and widths by cutting continuous extrusions into appropriate sizes to conform to the shape and size of the blades 11. Accordingly, it will be understood that the screen and brace disclosed in the drawing are illustrative of the invention and that variations in the shape, size and other details of the blades and the braces are possible within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A blade for a ventilatieng screen comprising an elongated blade member having opposite longitudinal edges, a web fixed to and extending substantially perpendicular to and lengthwise of said blade member be tween its longitudinal edges, base means on said web spaced from said blade member for mounting said blade on a structure, braces extending in diverging relation from said base means to said blade member for resisting flexing of said web, and means detachably connecting said braces to said base means and said blade member.

2. The blade set forth in claim 1 in which said braces comprise plates of narrower transverse dimension than the length of said blade member and having opposite ends engaging said blade member and said base means.

3. The blade set forth in claim 2 in which said detachable connecting means cornprises slots in said base means diverging toward said blade member for receiving an end of each of said plates.

4. The blade set forth in claim 2 in which said detachable connection means comprises longitudinal flanges on said blade member extending toward said base means, and one end of each of said plates having a groove therein for receiving one of said flanges.

5. The blade set forth in claim 2 in which said detachable connection means comprises longitudinal flanges on said blade member extending toward said base means, one end of each of said plates having a groove therein for receiving one of said flanges, and an inclined surface on said one end for guiding said flanges into said grooves.

6. The blade set forth in claim 2 in which said detachable connecting means comprises longitudinal flanges on said blade member extending toward said base means, a camming flange extending laterally from each plate adjacent to one end thereof for engaging a longitudinal flange on said blade member, each camming flange having a groove therein for receiving an edge of a longitudinal flange to secure said blade and plate to each other.

7. The blade set forth in claim 2 in which said detachable connecting means comprises slots in said base means diverging toward said blade member for receiving one end of each plate, longitudinal flanges on said blade member extending toward said base means, and the other end of each plate having a groove therein for receiving one of said longitudinal flanges.

8. The blade set forth in claim 2 in which said detachable connecting means comprises slots in said base means diverging toward said blade member for receiving one end of each plate, longitudinal flanges on said blade member extending toward said base means, the other end of each plate having a groove therein for receiving one of said longitudinal flanges, and an inclined surface on said plate adjacent to said groove for guiding said flange into said groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,989,834 2/1935 Watson 52634 X 2,618,821 11/1952 Corn 52-473 X 2,881,484 4/1958 Hallock 52473 3,004,307 10/1961 Hallock 52473 3,067,845 12/1962 Smith et a1. 52-730 X 3,203,151 8/1965 Bransford 52729 FOREIGN PATENTS 297,069 6/ 1932 Italy.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

ALFRED C. PERHAM, Examiner, 

